Turkey hunting - Give us your best legal tip or tactic to being successful!

[yelp]

I like to follow Al around.  He scouts a lot so there are always lots of birds around him.  So my advice is to find someone with more birds then they know what to do with and spy on them.  Let them hunt the area and warm up the birds, wait for them to leave and sneak in and wait for them to come looking for him.  Easy as pie.

They don't call you Sneakyjake for nothing my friend ... I could just pull up another gobble lounger for you. 

Al please explain!  LOL  Gobble lounger..I may want one too!  Unless its bad!   

[turkeydancer]

$30 lounge type chair that sits pretty low to the ground and is so comfortable you could actually fall to sleep in it (not that I will ever admit to doing so).  Only draw back is that it's about 4 lbs, so if going a long distance it will seem that it weighs 10 lbs by the time you get there ..... you can see it in the Cabelas catalog.  I love the thing ... 

[KimberRich]

My tip is if a bird is hung up at 100 yards or 200 yards or whatever and you can't see it..  Don't be afraid to close the distance.  Slowly move up 25 yards while glassing.  Get set up again and call..  If he is still hung up or moving away..  Move again.  I've been successful by being mobile.  It would be cool to set up in exactly the right spot and call a bird right in to where you want him like on TV but it rarely seems to happen that way. 

Like others have said..  The natural travel path is key.  Quite often a bird is talking but not willing to come in as he has another agenda.  If you can determine where they are going and get in front of them somewhat and get their attention, they tend to be more willing to vere off their path a few feet to come inspect what you are vs. making a 90 degree turn in the woods and coming to your call in my experiences.   

Also, just because your favorite mouth call sounds great to you it doesn't mean a turkey will like it.  Have a few calls in your arsenal and don't be afraid to use one that doesn't sound great to you but it may get the birds fired up!  First bird I ever killed, called him in with a TERRIBLE sounding push button call that sounded like finger nails on a chalk board to me but the Tom was in love! 

Excited to see everyone's pics of their birds next month!!!

[Miles]

I tend to move a lot while calling.  Once I get a response I'll usually give another call to see how he reacts....if he's hot I'll close the distance to where I feel comfortable that I'm not going to get busted, then call him in.

Here's a tip....don't plant your shooting shoulder against a tree.  They are not very forgiving and you take ALL the recoil.  The rest of the turkeys just heard a bang followed by "son of a bitch".

[birdmanwa]

If you want to kill the old toms with big spurs I have found the best way is to pattern them and catch them coming from or going to their roost, or in one of their strut zones.
Seems like most of the Toms I have called in and killed have been 2 year old birds.

I'll one up that, While you sit in your ground blind attempting to throw sticks at the turkeys, I'll sneak up and blow its head off with my shotgun. Alwine this is Thor btw. 

[turkey slayer]

Man there are so many things I have learne over the year. If I had to chose the BEST tip it would be to try and roost the tom the night before. That first crack at him off the roost has been my best times.

That is one of the best way that I have shot most of my bird. I'll but them to bed the night be for with a few little tree yelps within 75 yard to 100 yard of the tom. Then move in a hour be for day light to make sure the bird haven't jump roost  and find the spot you were the night be-for and set up. I let the tom do the first gobble at light then I start out soft to see how likes it then get aggressive.

This really seems like if works for me. 60%+ of my bird I have been shot like this. Some guys say not to get that close but I have never spooked birds off there roost.

Scout, scout, scout if you have a chance to scout early find there roosting area and there fly down area and were they go at after light 90% of the time they will fly down in the same area. Scouting is the key to hunt turkeys. Be safe out there this spring.

What ever you do don't follow phantom out

[yelp]

What ever you do don't follow phantom out   


Thanks for the heads up!   

[Phantom Gobbler]

Hey Master Gobbler Slayer, I don't get it  .....   I'm usually following you into the dark and scary woods at o dark thirty!   

Hey Born to Yelp, Whats wrong with getting the yips as long as I am at the end of the line???   

[DOUBLELUNG]

If you are talking to a tom that won't close the distance, shut up and sit still (better yet, shut up after he shuts up, bitch should always get the last word).  Then, endure the torture of sitting still and silent for an hour.  I've shot more than one tom sneaking in after all the calling was done.  Use a watch, otherwise you won't believe it hasn't been an hour yet.

[yelp]

If you are talking to a tom that won't close the distance, shut up and sit still (better yet, shut up after he shuts up, bitch should always get the last word).  Then, endure the torture of sitting still and silent for an hour.  I've shot more than one tom sneaking in after all the calling was done.  Use a watch, otherwise you won't believe it hasn't been an hour yet.

The game....it what I live for!     Check mate!

[tlbradford]

If you are talking to a tom that won't close the distance, shut up and sit still (better yet, shut up after he shuts up, bitch should always get the last word).  Then, endure the torture of sitting still and silent for an hour.  I've shot more than one tom sneaking in after all the calling was done.  Use a watch, otherwise you won't believe it hasn't been an hour yet.

The game....it what I live for!     Check mate!

You wouldn't believe how many times I have counted backwards from 5000 to zero.  I do this so I won't be moving checking a watch every few minutes. 

[DOUBLELUNG]

If you are talking to a tom that won't close the distance, shut up and sit still (better yet, shut up after he shuts up, bitch should always get the last word).  Then, endure the torture of sitting still and silent for an hour.  I've shot more than one tom sneaking in after all the calling was done.  Use a watch, otherwise you won't believe it hasn't been an hour yet.

The game....it what I live for!     Check mate!

You wouldn't believe how many times I have counted backwards from 5000 to zero.  I do this so I won't be moving checking a watch every few minutes. 

That works!  I lay the watch on the ground near my left knee, face-up, so I can glance at it w/o moving.  And yes, I have left a cheap watch or two in the field!

[yelp]

I once had patterned a couple of nice Merriam longbeard andd they usually would end up in a spring area up on this mountain. So I snuck in there and the weather changed for the worse.  I hunkered under a tree and waited and waited.  I waited almost 8 hours..I just knew them birds were going to show up but they never did...so I decided to call it and I walk out to grab the decoy look down the open ridge...there is a strutting tom looking right at me at 80 yards.  He takes off..BUSTED!  ARRGGHH..5 more minutes he would have been mine.  So sometimes patience is the key but the unknown is how much is required.  

[rosscrazyelk]

Your best tip would to not do what I do.. I have called in Toms for lots of guys never myself. Last year three different times I was working birds and I watch this Yahoo crawling down the ridge to my right to cut the bird off from me.  He shoots the bird knowing full I was there. And also I was working a bird and just as I see it. Boom some guy from behind me starts blazing away.

[lokidog]

Find private land with turkeys and get permission to hunt it....